Powell Seeks DTV Input

The FCC is following through on Chairman Michael Powell's April 29 promise to seek DTV information from various industry sectors. Letters sent by the FCC Media Bureau May 21 ask networks, top 100-market affiliates, cable and DBS operators and consumer electronics manufacturers and retailers about their functions and a

The FCC is following through on Chairman Michael Powell's April 29 promise to seek DTV information from various industry sectors.

Letters sent by the FCC Media Bureau May 21 ask networks, top 100-market affiliates, cable and DBS operators and consumer electronics manufacturers and retailers about their functions and accomplishments in the DTV transition.

Networks are asked details about their digital and HDTV feeds. Affiliates are asked about their DTV build-outs, cable carriage and PSIP implementation. The commission asks cable and satellite if they're following the HDTV carriage scheme Powell requested last year.

Consumer electronics manufacturers, blasted last year by Powell for their resistance to the FCC's mandate to include digital tuners in future TVs, may find that fight renewed. The letters ask them whether they will include ATSC over-the-air tuners in all digital television sets produce with integrated QAM tuners for "plug and play" cable compatibility. "And, if not, why not?" the commission asks.

With no shortage of finger-pointing among industries related to digital TV, FCC Chairman Michael Powell is on a search for information that could help spot the weak links and form policy for the remainder of the digital transition. In a letter to Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.), Powell said he

FCC Chairman Michael Powell has sent a letter to Capitol Hill objecting to legislation that would prohibit a certain spectrum auction involving Northpoint. In a letter to House Commerce, Justice, State and the Judiciary Subcommittee Chairman Frank Wolf (R-Va.), Powell pointed out that prohibiting the auction would depr

Republican FCC Chairman Michael Powell has again said he's not leaving his post anytime soon. Seeking to dampen speculation he plans to leave his post to either run for public office or go to the private sector, Powell told Reuters this week, "I'm happy where I am." When asked about his plans earlier in a session with

The FCC is seeking its second major round of comment on the DTV transition, looking for guidance in rules yet to be made. Under examination are some of the fundamentals of the transition and the long-planned reclamation of the spectrum used for analog broadcasting, now mandated for 2007. The commission wants input on

FCC Chairman Michael Powell this week updated the industry on proposals he made earlier this year for moving the DTV transition ahead. Powell said in a statement that "virtually every industry - cable, broadcast and satellite" has either embraced or made real commitments to advance the transition, and that because of